Play For Me
Page 19
Another week passed with only intermittent texts from him, mostly checking on Angel. Looking at Jack’s things scattered throughout my apartment depressed me, so I washed his clothes and packed them into his duffel bag. After that, I carefully disassembled his electric drum set and repacked it in the other bag. I placed all his things between the desk and the wall near the front door where I didn’t have to look at them so much and found my eyes straying there all the time.
The next week classes began. The way my schedule worked out, I only had to take Angel to the campus daycare for one class a week since the girls’ schedules worked around mine, which meant they took turns watching her while I was in class. Between taking care of Angel, going to class, studying, and working, I could keep my thoughts from straying to Jack Whitehorse to only twenty or thirty times a day.
Then came the phone call that stole my breath.
“We’re headed out on tour, Clio.”
“When?”
“We leave tomorrow. We have several dates in Europe during September and October before returning to the States for some stadium shows in November and early December. But I’ll be home for Christmas, I promise.”
“Sure,” I said, my voice hollow.
“Clio, I was eighteen with stars in my eyes.”
“They’re still there, Jack.”
“Babe, please. Don’t be like this.”
“Like what? I know you need to fly, Jack. Go out on your tour. Blow the world away—again.”
“We’ll talk. FaceTime, text, Instagram. Please.”
The pleading in his voice nearly undid me because I knew he meant every word. I also understood he’d be far away from us in every way that mattered.
“Sure, Jack.”
Chapter Nineteen
Clio
Seeing Harrison Barnes in my baby’s daycare center talking to one of the assistants as she held Angel in her arms sent all thoughts of the organic chemistry test I’d just finished flying from my head.
“Excuse me,” I said, taking my daughter into my arms but my eyes were focused on my bio donor. “I have a restraining order against this man. He is not to come within a thousand feet of my daughter or me. I’ll bring the papers with me the next time I have to leave her here.”
My pronouncement, and my arctic tone, sent the assistant into a frenzy of apologies. She scooted off to find a supervisor while I stared Harrison down.
“Your daughter is beautiful. She looks exactly like you as a baby,” he said quietly.
I couldn’t read his face or his tone, so I said nothing.
He seemed to find himself then, and he continued in his usual condescending fashion. “I had to know, Clio. You see, it wouldn’t have surprised me if you’d misinformed me of the sex of your child.”
“You always assume that I’m like you. But you never tried to know me, not even a little. Which means you don’t understand that more than anything, I do not ever want to be like you or Meredith.” I put Angel over my shoulder so Harrison couldn’t stare at her face. “Therefore, I told you the truth. In the end, it was an easy truth to tell since I knew a girl child was of no use to you.”
For a second, I thought he might have flinched before his usual haughty expression stole back over his face.
“However, you are in violation of a court order, so I suggest you leave here and do not return. Not that you would return now that you have the information you wanted so much.” Somehow, I must have channeled Meredith. Deep inside, the nastiness of my tone surprised me. But I didn’t break.
“You’re wrong about the value of your daughter. I understand your boyfriend is out of the country on some tour for his music. Perhaps you need to rethink the restraining order and give us a chance to get to know your little girl.”
My blood turned to ice. Involuntarily, I squeezed Angel tighter in my arms, and she let out a yelp in protest.
Still, I managed to ask, “Are you threatening me, Harrison?”
“No, but I’d like an opportunity to know my only grandchild.”
Way too easy. “Why?”
“Because I have only one.”
“Not good enough. What do you really want?”
“Maybe we made some mistakes with you, Clio. Maybe we could try again, get it right with our granddaughter,” he said, his voice more subdued than I’d ever heard it.
The arrival of the daycare supervisor interrupted our conversation. “Is there a problem here, Miss Barnes?” she asked, giving Harrison the once-over.
Because I’d seen the way Harrison wielded his power, my fear for my daughter made me bold. When I thought about it later, I could devise no other explanation for my response.
“I have a restraining order against this man. I’ll provide a copy for you tomorrow,” I said to her. I faced Harrison again. “In some ways, I guess I am your daughter. When it comes to my child, I will always get my way. Please do abide by the terms of the court order. It won’t look good in the press if you choose not to do so.”
Turning away from him, I headed toward the infant room to retrieve Angel’s diaper bag. When I took once last glance over my shoulder, he completely perplexed me with the brief look of pure pain that crossed his face before he composed himself and walked away.
Once I had Angel out of his line of sight, I hugged her close and whispered fiercely, “I don’t know what he wants, sweetheart, but whatever it is, he will never ever hurt you. No one will ever be allowed to make you feel invisible or unloved. No one.” A picture of Jack Whitehorse flashed across my mind, and I realized there were lots of ways someone could make another feel invisible. And one way wouldn’t be any less painful than another.